Former TD says Keyonte George’s exclusion too harsh

By Neto Baptiste

Former national player, Sowerby Gomes, has labelled a decision to exclude striker Keyonte George from a 21-member squad to contest the men’s under-20 Concacaf Championships in Mexico for disciplinary reasons as harsh and excessive.

Gomes, the most recent technical director for football, believes that due process was not followed and that although the player would have erred in his behaviour on the day, other disciplinary methods could have been employed.

“Even to the point of, hey, we have to remove him from captaincy because you did not show the level in front of the players, in front of the stand, in front of all these spectators, because people were watching so you can’t do that and so disciplined has to be done. I’m just saying, we have to do something in order to shape him and let him understand, hey, you go down this road, this is what will happen,” he said.

“This player played for this position and he didn’t do this just yesterday. I’m saying from age 14, he was knocking on that door. But guess what? The opportunity did not present itself for him so for us to act as if this situation, we can just grab him and just beat him like that. We don’t understand the gems that we are creating, man,” he added. 

George, who is also the captain of the team, was not included in the squad set to contest Group B of the Concacaf Championship in Mexico starting July 24th. His exclusion is due to disciplinary breaches which the FA says occurred during a recent friendly encounter at the body’s Technical Center.

Gomes revealed that he has dealt with similar situations in the past and that players, especially those with exceptional potential, must be shown the right path rather than being cast aside.

“Keyonte George has meant too much for our young boys as a leader, not just as an outstanding player on the pitch, but what he would have brought to the table in the first leg of this particular championship in leading the team. I’m saying more should have been done as it relates to Keyonte George. He’s not no ordinary player,” he said.

“Yes, he’s the shortest player among the players on that under-20 team but when he plays, he stands out like a giant. I’m saying we need to have given more to what really transpired and see how best we could have remedied this situation,” the coach added.

The former TD whose contract was not renewed following  recent ABFA elections, said that during his tenure, there were no complaints on record about George’s behaviour adding that if there were, coaches probably dealt with the matter within the team setting.

Antigua and Barbuda will open their campaign against hosts Mexico on July 24th before facing Guatemala three days later on July 27th. The young Benna Boys will conclude their Group B conquest on July 30th against Costa Rica.